


Singing Well

by grimwoode



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, M/M, Mythology - Freeform, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-28
Updated: 2017-03-10
Packaged: 2018-04-11 15:56:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4442015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grimwoode/pseuds/grimwoode
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One of Matthias’ favourite hobbies is visiting haunted places. He heard rumours about a victorian home in Scarborough, England, and decided to investigate the manor and find out whether the rumours are true for himself. What he finds there is far from what he expected and his life changes drastically. Whether it’s for better or for worse is still uncertain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was a legend about the well in the garden. The story of how it sometimes sang at night is what drew Matthias to visit the old, overgrown mansion. The victorian home had gone through so many owners, no one knew who it belonged to anymore, and whoever it was didn’t even live there. The rumours said it was haunted, but Matthias knew better than to believe these rumours. Sure, it would be fun if it was haunted, but after visiting so many supposedly haunted mansions, he knew there was no such thing. Rumours were nothing more than rumours.

But this house was different. The legends surrounded the well in the garden instead of the house, and that’s why this one stood out from the rest. Matthias was determined to find out the truth, just as he did with all the others before it. Some people believed there was a ghost in the well and others thought it was fairies. Matthias didn’t believe in either, but he was going to camp out in the house until he heard the singing for himself.

He sat in the tea room at the back of the mansion. It was just like any other sun room, with wide french doors that opened out into the garden and a large fireplace along the opposite wall. He laid his sleeping bag down on the moldy carpet in front of the newly lit fireplace and looked out the dirty glass panes of the windows into the garden. He could see that the garden was groomed into a circle with large, overgrown hedges covered in rose vines. There were stone benches interspersed between the hedges with leaves pooled at their feet. In the very centre of the garden was the infamous well. It was large and ornate, made of white marble and a floral carving in the arch where the broken rope still coiled.

The orange light barely broke through the grime in the windows. Matthias looked out into the garden, excited to find out the secret of this singing well and he couldn’t imagine being able to fall asleep until the mystery was solved. He wasn’t afraid of sleeping through it, since most of the previous homeowners complained that they couldn’t, thanks to the haunting songs that came from the well. They said the melody was in a language no one could understand, and Matthias looked forward to hearing it for himself.

Exasperated, he plopped himself down cross-legged over his sleeping bag. The inside of the mansion was nice, and he could almost picture what it would have looked like in its prime instead of the musty building he now sat in. It was chilly, save for the warmth of the fireplace, lit with decade-old wood that was chopped by the previous owner’s servants. Matthias suspected the smell alone would make it hard for him to sleep, whether he was overexcited or not. Regardless, he slipped inside his sleeping bag and laying on his back, he let out a deep sigh. He put an arm behind his head to act as a pillow.

This was going to be a long night.

Matthias looked up at the cracked plaster ceiling, trying to clear his mind in order to sleep, despite the excitement that still brimmed inside. His ears were constantly peeled for any sound coming from the garden. He suspected that “singing” might have been a generous description, but he would have to wait and see for himself. He was only off from work for the next three days and hoped to God he would get to hear the well singing before those three days were over. He would be terribly disappointed if the well didn’t sing during that time. The legends made it sound like it sang every night.

Slowly, the light in the fireplace started to dim. The shadows started to seep out of the corners the lower the light became, accentuating sharp corners and making the house more creepy looking than it needed. By the time Matthias closed his eyes and fell asleep, the fire had extinguished itself and the only light available was cast by the moon. The only sound that could be heard was Matthias’ gentle snoring.

The rusted grandfather clock ticked the minutes away, and chimed the hours as well. With every chime, Matthias was startled awake and had to calm his nerves and try to sleep again. He didn’t know why this house made him so jumpy. He was starting to look forward to the singing from the well, if only so he could get out of this creepy old mansion and its pastel plaster walls.

The clock chimed again. Two sonorous rings rang through the house, announcing to Matthias that it was now two o’clock in the morning and he was wide awake now as the anxieties seeped into his thoughts. The house occasionally creaked, but that was to be expected from a building so old. Rustling could occasionally be heard from the trees in the garden. There was the sound of vermin scurrying in the kitchen, the next room over, making Matthias glad he had closed the doors to the tea room, isolating him from the rest of the house.

There was still no singing. He supposed the rustling of the leaves could count as singing. He would wait out the next three days, listening to leaves rustling, and he would return home, disappointed in having wasted his time. Actually, now that he thought of it, it was a nice house. He could buy it off the current owner, if there still was one, and fix it up. It would be nice to own a nice big house like this, especially with the reputation it had.

With this resolution in mind, he tried to clear his thoughts again in order to try falling back to sleep. He closed his eyes and focused on the rustling in the garden, ignoring the creaks in the floorboards and the scurrying rats and mice. He listened to the minutes ticking by.

Tick, tick, tick, tick. Moans.

There it was. A melodious sound could be heard coming from outside, drawing Matthias’ attention, prompting him to sit up suddenly, perking his ears to listen harder. Ignoring the sounds coming from the house, he could hear the moans turn into a strong male alto voice coming from outside. Matthias tried to stand up quietly, still listening to the soft singing that reverberated through the house and echoed into his ears as he stalked over to the large french double-doors. He tried to peer into the garden through the grimy windows, but he couldn’t see anything in the dark through the dirt. The sound was increasing in volume. There was no mistaking this was the singing that the legends spoke of.

Matthias tested the knobs and opened the doors. They creaked open noisily, disrupting the melody that came from the garden. Matthias cringed when the voice died down and was silenced by the creaking of the garden doors. He waited in the entrance for the sound to resume, but when it never came, his earlier excitement died down and he exhaled deeply. He stepped out onto the deck and shut the doors behind him.

The moonlight cast a charming glow over the decrepit deck and garden. Matthias took his time walking down the steps towards the well, walking over fallen, broken branches and crunching leaves.

“Come on, come on,” he mumbled to himself. “Sing for me again.” The white marble of the well seemed to glow in the moonlight. It was a fantastic scenery before him, but the magic of it was dulled by his broken hopes.

He strode towards the large well, hands in his jeans’ pockets and shivering in the cool autumn breeze. He stopped at the edge of the well, and laying his hands on the edge, looked into it. His eyes couldn’t pierce the deep blackness in the well. He wondered how far a match would drop before being extinguished by water or ground at the bottom. He wondered if the well was dry.

“Come on,” repeated Matthias. “Sing for me.”

He leaned against the edge now, still peering in. He was sure he didn’t imagine the singing; the legends were true, but that still didn’t answer the question of what caused the singing. Then Matthias chuckled as another thought crossed his mind. “I know I don’t seem like much,” he said to the well, “and I know I’m not worth such a beautiful voice, but it would really make my night if you would sing for me again.” Matthias paused briefly to scratch at his cheek. “Please?” he begged.

He waited patiently by the well to see if the singing would resume. The longer it took, the more his enthusiasm dwindled. He sighed again, feeling ridiculous for letting himself get caught up in just another myth. He straightened up again and lightly tapped his fist against the edge. “Well, it was nice hearing you while it lasted,” he lamented, and then he started walking back to the warmth of the house. He took a few steps towards the mansion when the moans started again.

He froze as soon as he heard the voice. It was definitely singing a beautiful tune, haunting and sad, but he couldn’t understand what the song meant. Most importantly, it was definitely coming from the well.

Careful to avoid making noise, Matthias crept back towards the edge of the well, listening to the haunting music growing louder the closer he got to the well. The lament echoed throughout the garden, making it no wonder that it could be heard throughout the house. The sound of it gave Matthias goosebumps and he did not dare scare it away again.

He was so completely mesmerized by it. Matthias listened and contemplated, trying to decipher the words in the mysterious language they came in. He was listening so closely, he almost missed the single recognizable word that fell on his ears.

“Please…,” it sang.

Matthias’ heart hammered in his chest when he recognized the plea. He leaned against the edge again and peered in, now desperate to pierce through the darkness.

“Please…”

Matthias could only hear pounding in his ears now as blood rushed to his brain.

“Is someone there,” Matthias cried out tentatively, quietly.

The song stopped almost immediately. There was a pause.

“Who are you?” asked Matthias.

There seemed to be no response before a quiet “please” echoed up the well again. If this was a trick, it was a very convincing one. The best Matthias had ever seen.

He anxiously drummed his fingers on the edge of the well again, thinking of what he should do and how. After a moment of waiting, the singing started again, this time with a broken lull to it. Whatever was down there was very, very sad, and Matthias felt his heart break at the lament.

The delicate song came up again, barely above a whisper. It reminded him of some of the songs his grandfather sang to him when he was little. Gripping the edge of the well, he peered into the mesmerizing darkness and absently started humming one of the many fishermen's songs his grandfather used to sing. When he did, the song in the well responded by singing the next verse. This stunned Matthias into silence. Then the song faded to a whisper and to silence again.

“Who are you?” repeated Matthias louder.

He was responded with silence again. Matthias was getting increasingly frustrated. This wasn’t at all like any other haunting he explored.

Then a sound was heard from the bottom of the well.

“What?” asked Matthias. He didn’t expect any sort of answer.

It repeated the sound, and fell silent again.

Matthias waited for more, but nothing came. The singing eventually started again, but the song seemed a little less lonely now. Matthias absently looked up at the broken rope hanging from the arch and a thought occurred to him.

“I’ll be right back,” he whispered into the well. The singing stopped for a brief moment before restarting, almost in acknowledgement of Matthias’ promise.

The Dane ran out to his car at the front of the house. The farther he got from the singing well, the more lonely he started to feel. He went into his trunk and found a sturdy rope that he kept in case of emergencies on his hiking trips. He gathered the entire bundle and a flashlight before heading back out to the garden, looking forward to hearing the sad singing from the well. Whoever or whatever was down there must have been very lonely after singing alone all these years.

He tied a tight knot around the marble arch and tested the sturdiness of the old stone. Satisfied that it would hold his weight, he peered back into the darkness where the melody still reverberated.

“I’m lowering a rope for you. Do you think you can climb up?” he asked, not sure if the being would be able to understand, let alone answer.

The singing stopped and there was a pause before a male sounding voice could be heard, but Matthias couldn’t hear what it said.

“Please,” said the voice.

Matthias drummed his fingers again before dropping the length of the rope down. He shortly heard the end of it hit water at the bottom. “So it’s not dry,” he thought to himself with a smile.

“No,” came the disembodied reply.

Matthias rolled his eyes at the voice from below. “I’m flashing a light down. Shield your eyes,” he said.

The voice quietened before he turned on his flashlight and beamed the light into the darkness. He could just barely distinguish where the rope met rippling water. At first, Matthias was puzzled noticing that the well was empty. Then something shifted in the water and the light glistened back at him. Matthias was ready to panic when he saw the light gleamed back ominously as it did. No singing could be heard so he couldn’t be sure if it was a thing or a ghost. Matthias continued to beam his light down the well shaft, waiting for the singing to start again. He was rewarded with a long fish-tail poking its scales out of the water. Panicked, Matthias dropped his flashlight and he yelped as it tumbled noisily down the well and crashed against the water. He couldn’t take his eyes off it as it went down and sank into the water, illuminating the water from beneath and revealing a large, pale fish that disappeared as the light sank lower.

Matthias tried to still his racing heart. That was far too big to be a fish and far too real to be a ghost. He couldn’t wrap his head around it. He settled on crumbling next to the well, leaning against the carved marble and hugging his knees to his chest as he tried to steady his breathing.

For several minutes, all he did was breathe in, breathe out, trying to calm his heart rate and trying not to think about what he saw. Before long, there was singing again. While the sound of it enchanted him before, now it terrified him.

“Please,” came the lament, no longer hesitant. Matthias could hear the rope tugging against the arch. That thing must be trying to climb up.

Matthias was frozen with panic. He wanted to run back to the safety of the house, but the song the thing sang still ached him. Once his heart-rate went back down to something resembling normalcy, he let himself listen to the soothing sound of it again. He noticed that it didn’t sound so lonely anymore.

He slowly gathered his strength again and stood up, grasping the edge of the well. He took a deep breath and peered back down. The light from his flashlight was peering back up at him, but in the light from the bottom, he could just make out the fish-like creature that laid at the bottom. Letting out the breath he’d been holding, Matthias finally realize what he was seeing.

It was a merman. Blond-haired with turquoise scales that gleamed like gemstones in the right light. It’s pale skin was so white, it almost glowed, and it was covered in sores and gashes from the stones around the well. He was floating just off the surface with his tail curled up, long-finned and elegant. He was holding Matthias’ flashlight and tugging on the rope that hung from the arch.

Matthias rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked back down. The merman was quiet now, but there was no denying that he was the one singing the lonely melody all these years.

“Can you climb up?” called down Matthias.

The merman nodded his head sadly. Matthias took pity on the poor creature. He couldn’t have been malicious—he just seemed lonely. He clutched the flashlight into his jaw and gripped the roped tightly in order to start his climb up. Matthias was amazed seeing the lean muscles at work as he shakily made his way up the rope, his long tail flopping in the air, completely useless in this exercise except for balance or awkward coiling.

By the time he reached the top, the merman’s arms seemed like they were numb and he seemed exhausted. Matthias took this opportunity to pull him up in the edge and sat him down on the edge of the well, his tail hanging into the abyss. Matthias was finally able to get a decent look at the creature thanks to the moonlight, and he was surprised to find the creature was attractive with his sharp cheekbones and soft blue eyes. He looked up at Matthias with sadness.

“Niels,” he said.

“What?” asked Matthias dumbfounded.

“I’m Niels,” it repeated in its sing-song voice.

The voice took getting used to. It occurred to Matthias that Niels was just speaking normally all these years but because of the sing-song nature of his voice and the echo of the well, his pleas for help came out as ominous singing and scared people away.

“What is your name?” asked the merman.

Matthias didn’t piece what he said together right away and Niels had to repeat himself slowly several times, before Matthias could understand what he was saying. He smiled awkwardly, glad to see the creature was somewhat talkative and willing to answer his questions, even partially. “My name is Matthias,” he said. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you get down there?”

The creature paused and seemed to consider the question. It didn’t take as long for Matthias to piece the words together this time. “I swam into a cave in the ocean and the walls collapsed behind me. I tried to find an exit, but the only one I found in the underwater currents was the well opening.”

Matthias considered this. “So you spent all these years singing, hoping someone could rescue you?”

“Singing?” it asked puzzled. “What does ‘singing’ mean?”

Matthias raised a brow quizzically. “Singing is that sound you’ve been making all these years. It sounds musical and makes people feel things.”

This only seemed to puzzle the merman more. “I was only speaking normally.”

A longing look crossed Niels face. Seeing it made Matthias’ heart ache as he remembered the lonely song the merman had been singing all these years. He sat on the edge next to Niels and reached his hand out to hold the merman's own hand. “You must be so lonely,” thought Matthias out loud.

Niels’ hand tightened around Matthias’ instead of shying away from the contact. His eyes clouded. “It’s less lonely now that you’ve found me,” he said.

Matthias started to blush, but quickly caught himself before it could become visible in the moonlight. “You must miss home, right?” he asked.

Niels cast his eyes down into the well and nodded, pulling his hand away from Matthias’ as discreetly as he could. He couldn’t grow too attached to a human, knowing they could only live worlds apart.

Matthias noticed the merman distancing himself, but chose to not be bothered by it. He was more bothered contemplating how long the rumours of the singing well were circulating and piecing together how long Niels would have been trapped. “I’ll help you get there,” he said. “I couldn’t live with myself if I let you keep rotting in his little hole. I’ll come back for you and I’ll make sure you get home again,” he promised.

Niels’ expression seemed to grow paler, if that was even possible. His lips remained tight and all he could manage was to nod his head again. It had been so long since he’d seen another of his own kind, he wanted to cry realizing he didn’t remember what any of them looked like. What was the use of a long lifespan if you didn’t have a memory that could last just as long? Niels felt his emotions begin to overflow, but his expression hardly changed. Too much was happening so quickly after being cornered in underground currents for so long.  

He didn’t want to hold back anymore. It had been too long since he felt any sort of contact or since he heard any sort of song beyond his own. He leaned into Matthias’ shoulder, resting his head there, and closed his eyes.

“Please,” he said again, his sing-song voice choking up as he sobbed into Matthias’ cold sleeves.

Matthias reached his other hand around and laid it down softly over Niels’ head in an effort to comfort him. They remained this way, quietly humming or singing under their breaths, until the sun started poking over the horizon and it became time for Niels to go back down into the well—he’d been out of the water too long, and his scales were starting to shrivel and crust painfully. Matthias helped him take a firm hold of the rope and watched him make his way down. Thanks to his flashlight, Matthias could see the merman disappear below the water’s surface and he felt a pang in his chest.

The most magical thing he’ll ever experience in his life just happened and he let him slip away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even though I wrote this over a year ago, I'm finally finding the time to revisit it! I hope to have chapter 2 written and posted within a month.
> 
> And don't forget to let me know what you think :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s been a long time coming, but here it is, finally: the continuation of Singing Well and the final chapter coming next weekend!

With the excitement and adrenaline of his discovery ebbing away, Matthias was delirious with sleep. Short of slumping against the well’s wall where it was still too cold, he picked his feet up and walked back to the mansion, just barely making it through the french doors and closing them, before finally collapsing against his sleeping bag and slithering himself into it, groaning for sleep and letting it pull him under. When he woke up again, the clock chimed three times, and he was confused as to how he slept less than an hour since collapsing.

Opening his eyes, he realized that it’s daylight and that he slept most of the day away.

He turned onto his back and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, groaning as he stretched the stiffness from his muscles. The last thing he remembered was waking up as the clock chimed two in the night and dreams of blue, glistening scales and softer blue eyes. Matthias shook his head, thinking how weird this particular dream was, but also that it made sense for his mind to fill in the gaps of what might have caused the singing in the well.

Thinking it over longer, he realized there was no way for a mermaid to end up in the well, not on its own. Not unless the mansion’s first owner was a sadistic man that found the mermaid at sea and decided to bring it home as a live trophy. Nor would it have survived down there all these decades without food. And do mermaids require salt water to live, or can they live in freshwater? He’s never heard of a mermaid in a freshwater lake.

No, the more he thought about it, the more unlikely this sleep-ridden theory became. With a sigh, he crawled out of his sleeping bag. A mermaid would have certainly been more interesting than a plain ghost, but it’s evident that this was not a legend about a mermaid. Maybe it was the ghost of a mermaid, he thought with a chuckle. He cleaned up after himself in the tea room, leaving only his sleeping bag before tracing his steps back through the house to the front where his truck was parked.

He was already two meals behind and he needed food. He sat on the bed of his truck and opened his old metal cooler to fish out one of the sandwiches he prepared for this trip. Noshing on his breakfast—lunch—whatever this was, he considered other possible causes of the singing, thinking about the land’s history. ‘After a few minutes, he got tired of thinking about it and his mind went blank, eating steadily. He lazily glanced over the contents of his truck. He eventually noticed his hiking rope was missing, stopped chewing, tried to remember if he had taken it out of the truck and for what. When he finished his sandwich, he jumped off the bed of his truck and made his way through the house again to check the tea room, and not finding it there, the garden.

Matthias was stunned seeing the rope dangling from the well’s arch. His flashlight was laying in the dewy grass. Flashes of his dream came back to him and his heart beat rose when he realized it wasn’t a dream at all.

There was a merman trapped in the well.

Excitement bubbled up in him again as he strode towards the edge of the well, peering in. At this time of day, he could see almost all the way down to the bottom where water shimmered back up at him. What did the merman say his name was again?

“Niels?” he called down, his voice booming echoes around the well.

Matthias waited with bated breath, but no sound ever came. The water remained still at the bottom of the haunted well.

“Niels!” he called again, louder this time. If there were any neighbours at all, they would have heard him.

But still, no answer came. With a disappointed sigh, Matthias picked up his flashlight and turned back towards the house. He left the rope hanging on the arch, a sign of his lingering hope that the merman was real and not a figment of his imagination.

Dropping his flashlight on his sleeping bag, Matthias decided to take a good look around the house. It may be decrepit and in serious need of repair from the neglect and abuse of time, but it seemed to be a lovely home in its prime. As he explored every nook of it, he realized the plumbing and electrical were outdated: everything would need to be ripped out and someone would need to be hired to redo it all. It would cost a pretty penny, but the dream it stirred was prettier.

Since he would have to wait until nightfall anyway for any supernatural activity to take place, Matthias started looking into what it would take to seriously buy and renovate the mansion. He had always dreamed of having a beautiful big house, with a loving partner and lots of kids if he could, and this was the closest he had ever seen to his fantasy home. All he was missing was the family to live in it…

Deciding not to dwell on that too much, he even looked into what it would take to rent a fishing boat to go out at sea, just in case.

When the light filtering into the tea room turned into an orange dusk, Matthias pulled on his sweater and decided to go out into the garden. He knew it was still too early for anything to come from the well, but he wanted to see what the garden might have looked like in its former glory. Brushing dead leaves off one of the stone benches circling the garden, he sat down and looked around him, taking in the warmth of the final rays of light and imagining what the hedges might have looked like when they were still trimmed, how the marble of the well must have looked when it was polished, or what colour the roses could be when they bloom in the spring. Seeing it in his mind’s eye drew him deeper into a fantasy where this home was his and everything was perfect.

His gaze fixated on the large well in the middle of the garden and he thought back to what happened the night before, if at all. He remembered how Niels’ body coiled around the rough rope and how his narrow arms struggled to lift his weight up out of the water. A thought occurred to Matthias and he walked over to the well and reached for the rope that wrapped around the well’s arch. He pulled the length of it out of the well to tie the end into a loop he hoped would be wide enough for Niels to slide into. He dropped the looped end back into the well and coiled the length once around the arch so Matthias could pull him up. Just in case the dream was real… It couldn’t hurt to be prepared this time.

As the daylight hours ticked away, Matthias became increasingly nervous. He hoped last night was more than just a dream. He realized he was excited to see the merman again, and he hated the thought of him not existing at all, that he might be just a figment of his imagination.

Otherwise, the ache Matthias felt hearing Niels’ broken, lonely voice would haunt him forever.

* * *

As Matthias walked away, Niels let his heart go hollow again. He let his body sink down to the bottom of the well, only allowing himself to breathe again when his back touched the gravelly bottom. As he basked in the silver moonlight, his scales reflecting opal stars against the stone walls, Niels let his deprived mind process this encounter. He imagined Matthias’ strong hands still imprinted on his arm from when he lifted him onto the edge of the well.

His hands were so warm…

The only time Niels ever remembered warmth like this was when he and his brother would let themselves float up to the surface of the ocean on a sunny day with the cool waves rolling softly over their skin and scales, basking in the golden rays. Emil sometimes talked about the girl with the coral scales that he thought was too pretty for him and Niels would tease him about how pink his cheeks got when he thought of her. They both always came back down to the depths a little pinker than before with a warmth to their skin that lingered for days.

A pang twisted Niels’ heart. It had been so long since he thought of his little brother and now he remembered why. It was just too painful to think of them dying apart.

But he wasn’t so naïve as to put too much trust in the human. He might have been the first to hear his plea and offer help, but that didn’t mean he would keep his promise and help Niels get back home. He had been on the verge of giving up entirely for nearly a decade now but he just couldn’t bring himself to let go.

With a defeated sigh, Niels gathered his strength to swim out of the circle of moonlight and back into the endless caverns that he hoped would lead him home. His eyes readjusted to the darkness quickly enough. The maze was the only thing that kept him going and it was taking him forever it seems to map it, but he was determined to find a way out. After all, the occasional wandering fish that served as his scarce meals were coming in from somewhere, and if there was a way for them to get in, then there was a way for him to get out.

When Niels’ strength began to ebb, he turned back towards his nest just out of the well’s light. Curling in his bed of algae and weeds, he managed to fall asleep but with difficulty. No longer distracted with his quest, his mind circled back to Matthias with his sweet, adoring eyes and confident smile. He was endearing, that much was certain, which is something Niels never thought he would say about a human. He always considered them to be repulsive, greedy creatures and he couldn’t pinpoint why this one felt different.

In the end, Niels came to the conclusion that he had simply been alone for far too long and soon drifted to sleep…

He dreamt of a harbour he had seen many times before in their migrations. It was the prettiest he’d ever seen with layered cobblestones and large pots with trees and shrubs that flowered. A wooden fence kept people off the harbour to not get in the sailors’ ways or to prevent them from falling down to the cobblestones, although it was currently deserted. A bright summer sun soaked into Niels’ skin, warming him to his core—a welcomed change from the chill of the well that has become his prison.

“There you are,” said a voice not far behind him.

Niels spun and his heart fluttered seeing Matthias, wearing a red t-shirt and washed out jeans. He was embarrassed that his own body would betray his loneliness like this, but Matthias either didn’t notice or didn’t mind, smiling at him with those star-lit eyes of his.

“I missed you,” said Matthias, as though greeting a lover at the end of a long day.

This only cause Niels’ heart to start beating faster. He didn’t dare speak. He didn’t have to since Matthias started walking towards him until they were standing face to face and he took Niels’ hands in his own.

Standing… Niels looked down and was shocked to find he was standing on two legs, wearing a pair of plain dark blue slacks. Panicked, his legs gave out and he crumbled forward into Matthias’ broad chest, the other wrapping an arm around his slim waist to hold him up.

“I’ve got you,” said Matthias, his voice filled with promise. “Dance with me.”

“I can’t,” said Niels, his melodic voice stuttering around his racing heart. Glancing up, he realized they were alarmingly close, Matthias’ lips temptingly close.

“‘Course you can,” smiled Matthias. “Try standing again. I’ll make sure you don’t fall.”

Matthias felt so warm against Niels’ bare skin, he felt compelled to lean into him. He knew he would do it again, even if it burned him. Bracing himself against Matthias, Niels slowly brought himself to stand on his own shaking legs.

“You’re doing great,” encouraged Matthias, steadily taking a single step back, causing Niels to stumble forward. “Not so hard, right?”

“Don’t be so condescending,” said Niels, wrinkling his nose. “It’s unattractive.”

Matthias burst out laughing at that. Niels couldn’t think of a more wonderful sound.

Matthias continued to take a step back here, a side step there, moving slowly so Niels could keep up on his unsteady legs, as slowly as the dusk turned to night.

“What’re you doing?” asked Niels.

“Dancing,” chuckled Matthias. “It’s what humans do when they have something to celebrate.”

“What’re we celebrating?”

“The fact that we can be together now.”

Niels glanced up at Matthias, his eyes betraying his uncertainty and doubt. “But my family…,” he said, his panic returning. Everything he’d done to get back to them all these year couldn’t have been for nothing.

“I know,” frowned Matthias. “But it’s been so long since you’ve seen them, they probably think you’re dead. And I can make you so happy.”

“But I didn’t ask for this,” protested Niels, holding Matthias at arm’s length. “I don’t belong with you!”

Lightning suddenly hit the star-lit sky, startling Niels with its booming thunder. He had no idea it could be so loud. He looked out at sea to see waves roiling wildly, his heart hammering as he feared what would happen if he dared to jump in now, imagining his frail body slamming against the stones of the harbour, bones splintering and blood splaying. Becoming short of breath, he turned to face Matthias, seeking some comfort and craving his warmth and finding him gone.

Niels startled awake, his lungs filling with water and for a brief moment, he was sure he was drowning—until he remembered who he was, what he was, and he relaxed, trying to calm his pounding heart. There was a lingering warmth where Matthias touched him in his dream, but while the warmth from last night was comforting, now it haunted him.

Matthias was gone. Niels was sure of this. The human had no reason to stay, and Niels had no reason to trust he would. For centuries, their two species worked against each other between the humans stealing and killing the mermen’s food supply and mermen retaliating by enchanting and drowning the human sailors. It was a task normally left for the females because for some reason, that’s what most human males preferred, but Niels himself had managed to snare a few of his own.

And still, Matthias felt different. Wanting to prove it to himself, Niels swam to the well and up to the water’s surface. He was elated to find the rope Matthias used still dangling there, although he was confused to see it knotted into a loop.

He poked his head out of the water, yanking on the rope and was relieved when it remained tied-fast to the well’s arch. “Matthias,” he called, hoping the Dane was awake and nearby.

And until he would come, Niels swam circles around the well.

* * *

Unsure at what point the well would sing again, if at all, Matthias decided he would try to get some sleep and fix what his restlessness from the night before disrupted. He didn’t bother taking off his sweater before getting in his sleeping bag, his flashlight close at hand, and quickly drifted to sleep.

Matthias dreamt of home. He hadn’t been there since he was seven, since his grandfather passed away and his new foster family brought him to England to live with them, promising a better life that never came, but he never stopped thinking of the little seaside cottage in the Danish countryside as his home. Now that he was standing alone on his grandfather’s dock, it was occurring to him just how lonely he’d become since the last time he was here.

The ocean was unusually still and the sun was just beginning to set. This had always been Matthias’ favourite time of day, to see the ocean painted in so many vibrant, beautiful colours.

“There you are,” called a familiar, lilting voice.

Matthias spun around to see where the voice came from, but his grandfather’s property was deserted.

“I missed you,” it called again in a teasing tone, and this time, Matthias caught a glint of turquoise in the water—a colour that didn’t belong in sunset drenched waters. A pale blond head slowly rose from the water, a coiling fishtail painted teal and turquoise curling just above the water line to keep himself balanced.

“Niels,” gasped Matthias. “You’re here—in the ocean.”

“Thanks to you,” smiled Niels. “You saved me.”

Matthias was shocked, but elated, although he had no memories of how he saved him. He knelt on the edge of the dock to be closer to him. “I’m so happy you were able to go back home,” he said sincerely.

“I’m happy too, but there’s something… missing,” murmured Niels, looking distantly sad.

“You didn’t find your family?”

“I did, but I’m still missing something… someone.”

Matthias’ heart nearly gave out from the longing gaze Niels gave him, his sing-song voice enthralling him. The merman reached up to grasp Matthias’ hand and Matthias clung to his cold one, ready to pull him up to the dock as he did when at the well. They were worlds apart and yet Matthias felt drawn to him, still.

“We can be together now,” Niels said, suddenly pulling Matthias into the water with surprising strength.

Shocked, Matthias hardly had time to scream before he was pulled into the water. Niels was too strong and too fast a swimmer for Matthias to stop him. As his lungs filled with saltwater and his body seized, Niels cradled him in his arms. As Matthias’ body turned cold, he found himself wanting to be nowhere else but here. Niels hummed softly to him. Despite his lungs burning with a desperate need for oxygen, Matthias didn’t feel his consciousness give. Slowly, he let go of his fear, his arms wrapping around Niels’ waist as his body uncoiled and he slowly opened his eyes. Through the murky waters, he saw Niels’ pale skin glowing underwater and a large, flowing aquamarine tail next to him. Startled, Matthias tried to flee from the large creature, finding the limb responding to him and causing him to swim back.

Niels held his arm, holding him close. “We can be together now,” he said again.

Finally, his words clicked in Matthias’ mind. Clinging to Niels, excitement bubbling in his chest, he tried to wiggle his lower body to try to figure out how to swim with it, laughing as bubbles of air slipped from his lips and his lungs filled with water, but surprisingly, the burning feeling eased and he could breathe again.

Thunder shook the house and startled Matthias awake, waking him from the dream turned nightmare. His body shivered, cold despite the sweater he was still wearing. Matthias’ heart jumped wildly in his chest. He took deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves. _It was just a dream_ , he told himself, over and over again. _Niels wouldn’t hurt me_. When he finally calmed down, Matthias peered out the large windows to the well. It was messing with his head, something no haunted place had ever done to him before. Glancing around the tea room where he slept, he felt a pang as he dropped whatever fantasy he’d built for himself that day and decided he would leave in the morning.

Unable to sleep again, Matthias pulled out his laptop again. This time, he researched mermaid mythology, trying to see what sort of lore existed about them. As the storm outside slowly died down, he realized his search had wandered into a realm where some mythical humans were rumoured to have once been mermaids and even some humans that disappeared at sea, rumoured to have become one. None of them had any solid basis to accredit them.

When the storm stopped and the trees rustled in the wind, Matthias thought he heard singing. Paying careful attention now, closing his laptop, he heard it again, just faintly in the wind.

“It’s just my imagination,” he thought aloud, knowing he wasn’t just dreaming it this time. Grabbing his raincoat and a flashlight, he went out into the garden.

“Matthias,” the well sang faintly, drowned out by water and wind.

Matthias half-ran to the well, careful not to slip in the slick glass and saw the rope he’d hung being tugged taut from inside. His heart started racing the closer he got, beaming his flashlight down into the well. It just about stopped when he saw Niels, clearly and unimagined at the bottom of it.

“Niels?” he called tentatively. His mind was still reeling at thought that he hadn’t imagined any of the night before.

“Matthias,” called up Niels. “Help me up.”

Matthias nodded numbly. Still spooked from his dream, but excited to see that Niels was actually real, Matthias pulled up the rope where Niels had sat himself in. He was heavier than he imagined, but he managed to pull him up to sit on the edge of the well.

“You’re still here,” said Niels, and Matthias couldn’t have missed the surprise and relief in Niels’ voice, barely contained.

“I said I would be,” said Matthias, and he realized now how much he meant it. It was just a dream, he told himself again, shaking his dread. “And I sort of have a plan to get you home,” he said all in one breath, surprised at himself.

Niels gazed at him with a mixture of surprise and excitement. “Really? How?”

“I have a truck. I can buy a large container I hope you can fit in, rent a boat, sail out to sea and let you out there.”

Niels paled a little. It sounded uncomfortable, but sounded better than living in the well much longer. “W-why are you helping me?” he asked, wanting to know why this human was willing to do all this for him.

“Because it’s the right thing to do?” replied Matthias, surprised by the question. “I don’t even know how you’re getting food in there. Do you live just off water?” he asked all at once.

Niels chuckled, awkward from his fraught nerves. “Sometimes I’ll find a fish here and there. Seaweed sometimes, too,” he murmured. “But it’s not enough…”

“What d’you mean?”

“I mean that I’m growing weaker,” he said, his voice heavy with sadness. “I can’t swim for as long as I used to, or as fast. My heart beats too fast. I’m worried that if I don’t find a way out through the caverns, I’ll die in here.”

Matthias frowned. “I’ll get you out of here,” he promised again.

Niels smiled softly. “You have a plan. It’s the most I’ve come up with for decades.”

“Let’s do it tomorrow, then,” offered Matthias. He felt that the sooner he helped Niels get home, the sooner he could be rid of is fears.

Niels’ heart almost stopped. Tomorrow. He can go home tomorrow. His hand reached for Matthias’ lacing their fingers together as he leaned into his warmth, all that warmth that was so comforting and so nostalgic. Surprising even himself, he leaned into Matthias’ chest, tilting his head up and connecting their lips in a soft kiss, fingers clinging just as tightly as he clung to the hope Matthias gave him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to let me know what you guys think! I cherish your thoughts--they fuel my motivation lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here’s the final instalment… Enjoy!

When Matthias woke up the next day near noon, he had officially decided he was going to buy the house. It was a nice old manor with a big yard, just off the coast where he could fish and launch his boat, and it had so much potential, he could feel his heart swell with pride at the thought of owning it. Besides, he has had too many extraordinary memories in the span of the last two days to _not_ preserve them. It stood vacant so long and needed so much repair, he had convinced himself that no one would want to fuss with him over it so he thought he’d get a decent price on it and he hoped his charm would be more than enough to convince the lady at the bank to let him have a mortgage on it.

Even if Niels couldn’t stay here with him, determined as Matthias was to make him happy and help him get home, he still wanted to preserve these fond memories of him by keeping and maintaining the house where they met.

Satisfied with his decision, Matthias gave himself a cold sponge bath, brushed his teeth and combed his fingers through his tousled blond hair, and left for town to get some groceries. After their long talk the night before, about anything and nothing, Matthias knew what Niels needed in his diet, so he thought he’d make him something nice as a change after all these years of scavenging for food that was barely sustainable.

While Matthias drove his old truck down the beaten, gravelled path, he considered what to buy at the store. He didn’t need much, since Niels would only be there until it took for him to get his hands on a container that would be big enough to carry him in, but he still wanted to do him this small justice, almost like a parting gift. He wished he could give him substantial to remember him by, but he didn’t know what to give him. 

He, on the other hand, had an entire marble well that was six feet across to remember Niels by. A small smile already began to twitch at the corner of his mouth thinking of the merman. He still couldn’t believe that he met someone from a mythical race. Idly, with a small swell of anxiety, Matthias wondered if the reason why people didn’t believe in mermaids anymore is because they’ve gone extinct. It occurred to him that if this was the case, then Niels would be very much alone in that great big ocean. Niels told him that when one of their kind passed away, they buried their corpses under a mound of rocks at the bottom of the Mariana’s Trench. Matthias wondered what would happen to the last of them that had to bury the second last in this mass grave… There would be no one left to bury him. There would be no one to bury Niels when he passed.

Matthias took a deep breath to dislodge the swelling sadness in his throat. He had no reason to think Niels was the last of his kind; he didn’t even know his kind existed in the first place until two days ago!

In any case, he already made a promise to get Niels back home. He told himself he would just make sure that Niels knows where he can find Matthias again if he fails to find his family or anyone, for that matter. Matthias would be happy to be his friend until the end.

Matthias arrived on the outskirts of Scarborough and parked at the grocery store. While he browsed the aisles for food and snacks, he looked around the storage section, wondering if any of the coolers or plastic bins would be able to accommodate Niels and sustain his weight with water packed in. None of them looked like comfortable options. In the snacks aisle, he found a tub of seaweed chips and grinned, thinking maybe Niels would like them and added them to his basket.

After grabbing a variety of fish and crustaceans, as well as seasonings to cook them with, Matthias went to the checkout. He packed the food into his cooler to keep it fresh before driving off to the hardware store. He found the same types of storage containers, none perfectly comfortable looking to accommodate a merman approximately six feet in length from head to tail, no matter how lithe he was. He groaned in frustration, checking the different aisles. He briefly considered a large aquarium, but thought it was too sadistic and inconsiderate to actually go through with.

With a sigh, he bought the largest plastic storage container they had in stock. Niels would be cramped in it, but at least he would fit. He packed it at the back of his truck and finally drove back to the manor. After pulling up in the overgrown drive of the house, he brought his cooler in, leaving the storage container in the truck so he wouldn’t have to carry it around too much. It would be much easier to carry Niels to the container than to carry the container filled with water and a disgruntled merman.

Once inside, Matthias pulled out his laptop and started making calls to get his business in order to buy the house he’d been dreaming of. The first thing he did was look up and call the lawyers in Scarborough to try to find out who currently owned the house. He was put on hold numerous times, and when that happened, he let his mind wander, his eyes glancing over the various details of the study where he had decided to set up with his laptop. There was still a desk here—empty—and bookshelves lining the walls with a few abandoned books in them. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and the window to the study was even grimier than the windows in the tea room. The carpet laying over the hardwood floors would need to be ripped out, he thought. And then he imagined what it might have looked like in its prime and picturing himself behind this same desk, remodelled. He could dimly imagine singing through the house, the familiar staccato of the singing well humming his grandfather’s old fishermen’s songs.

Sometimes Matthias would get restless while on hold, so he would get up from the desk and wander around the rooms. He chuckled when he stumbled into one, decorated oriental-inspired, with a faint smell of tobacco and spice. A smoking room. Of course a house this old and big would have a room just for smoking cigars and cancer sticks. Maybe he could repurpose it into a workshop of some sort, he thought. Or maybe he’ll meet someone that loves to paint. 

With every call he’s put on hold, he wanders into a new room, finds it a new purpose, pictures it in full glory. He wound up with a handful of bedrooms, a library, a garden, a music room, and he ran out of ideas for the others. It occurred to him that he could rent out some of these rooms for a little bit of extra income and repurpose some adjoining rooms into kitchens for his tenants. 

When he wandered into what must have once been the master suite, at the very end of the second floor and looking out into the garden, an entirely different fantasy crossed his mind. He imagined Niels laying in a large four-poster with silk sheets covering his lower half, sleeping half the day away and groaning as Matthias came in. He wondered what direction his life might have taken if he found him here, just as human as Matthias, also investigating the so-called singing well just as he had been. Under entirely different circumstances, would Niels had kissed him then too? Would Matthias still feel that warm flourishing in his chest that made it hard to breathe? Suddenly, every other room he’d pictured up until then had an entirely different light shone on them, a life built with Niels and his heart ached with the impossibility of it.

It finally occurred to Matthias that living alone in this great big house, no matter how perfect, would be very lonely. Maybe it was a good idea to have live-in tenants after all…

* * *

Night had fallen hours ago, but Matthias couldn’t sleep. He was too wired thinking about the night ahead, his knee bouncing with a mixture of anxiety and impatience. He was already sitting out by the well with his groceries and his camping grill ready to make a small feast for his friend. He was only waiting for him to wake up. The meal would be best served warm, after all, and he wanted him to enjoy it at its best before they would have to part.

The ache in his chest never went away, but he was determined to keep his promise and make Niels happy. Even if they came from completely different worlds and belonged to completely different species, he wanted to make all the difference in Niels’ life and hold a special place in his heart. He couldn’t quite call it love—they haven’t known each other nearly long enough to call it that—but he certainly felt affection for him. He was drawn to him in a way he couldn’t explain and that he has never felt for anyone else. He was certain this was meant to be in some way, and if this is how it ended, Matthias was satisfied with that.

So long as Niels could be happy and remembered him fondly, Matthias would be happy too. At least, that’s what he told himself over and over again while he waited for Niels to wake up and call to him.

When he finally heard the water rumbling in the well, Matthias nearly jumped out of his skin and dashed for the edge, peering down with his flashlight. He let out a long, relieved breath seeing Niels’ head poke out from the surface.

“You ready?” he called down, unable to stop his grinning. 

Niels hummed, a sound Matthias thought must be what heaven sounds like, but he kept this to himself. He waited for Niels to be comfortably seated in the rope’s loop before starting to pull him up, muscles straining with the exertion. He pulled Niels up to sitting on the edge of the well as always and he felt a spark of glee as his new friend glanced over the arrangement of his camping equipment, all of it foreign to him.

“What’s this?” he asked in that sing-song way of his that Matthias had been dying to hear all day.

“I’m gonna cook you something delicious,” he grinned. “Something I hope you’ll like and that’ll hopefully give you the strength to swim farther out into the ocean when you get there.”

Niels’ eyes sparkled with anticipation. “How will you do it? You can’t exactly carry me all the way to the shore,” he said.

“Nah, I have a plan. Don’t worry, I know you’re eager to get home, but I promise you’ll get there tonight,” said Matthias, sitting at his improvised kitchen and starting to prepare the fish for cooking. He had learned to cook for himself in high school when his foster parents worked odd hours, his mother with evening shifts and his father with night shifts, so neither were ever home for dinner. 

“Is… Is that salmon?” asked Niels, his mouth watering as he vaguely remembered the taste of it.

“Yes! I also got some cod, crab, shrimp, and mussels. Wasn’t sure what you’d prefer, so I got a variety. Also, this,” he said, handing Niels the container of seaweed chips. “Try it.”

Niels felt excitement bubbling at the prospect of all this food after so much time starving alone underground. He eyed the deep green pieces of seaweed, gave them a cautious sniff, and picked one out of the container to nibble at the edge. “Why does it taste like that?” he asked, wrinkling his nose a little but finding himself eating more of it anyway.

“They’re dried and salted. Helps preserve it longer,” explained Matthias, amused by the expressions Niels was making and happy to see him nibbling at it and enjoying the snack. “Wasn’t sure you’d like it so I only bought the one container.”

“That’s all right. You’re preparing all this other food, too, so I don’t think I’d have room for much more,” said Niels with a faintly teasing tone.

Matthias grinned widely, seasoning the salmon with a little bit of cajun before starting to grill it. “I hope the spice isn’t too much for you,” he thought aloud.

“I would be happy to try it,” assured Niels, all too happy to experience something new, and finding himself even happier to see Matthias smile like that. He’d want him to smile like that all the time if he didn’t think his weakened  heart would stop entirely from it. 

Once the salmon cooked, Matthias set it on a plate and sprinkled a little lemon juice on it before handing it to Niels, letting him eat and enjoy privately while he moved on to the cod. Niels tore a bite out of the tender meat and let it sit on his tongue, licking his fingers and a moan hummed in his throat, savouring his first bite of satisfying food in decades. He forced himself to eat slowly, not wanting to get a stomach ache before he could get to the rest of the delicious meat.

Matthias turned at a slight angle when he heard Niels’ moan of pleasure. It made him want to provide an entirely different sort of pleasure that embarrassed him to even think about, so he didn’t want Niels to see him blushing, but the moaning didn’t end with the first bite and Matthias had to concentrate _really_ hard on cooking. He seasoned the cod with salt and pepper and added it to Niels’ plate, to eat at his leisure as well.

He then cooked the crab and shrimp in a light garlic butter, serving that to him too when he finished his salmon and cod too.

“Do you eat like this every day?” asked Niels in amazement. “I’ve never eaten these things warm like this. It’s wonderful.”

“I can tell,” he teased, his pink cheeks having gone away by now. “Yeah, I eat like this most days. When I take the time to cook, anyway. There’s also a lot of land animals that we eat. Would’ve loved to have you try some if we had more time, but I thought you’d appreciate something more familiar before going home.”

“I do,” said Niels, with a slight longing in his voice. As much as he enjoyed Matthias’ company and the food, he wanted to get back home to his family and his brother. 

“You’re starting to bleed,” frowned Matthias, noticing his shrivelling scales cracking again. “Get back in the well. We’ll leave within an hour.”

Niels was crestfallen at the thought of going back in the well, but he decided to trust Matthias, still. He let himself be lowered into the well and his sadness increased when Matthias walked away again. 

Matthias went into is truck to get his metal bucket. He ran back to the well and pulled out the rope.

“What are you doing?” called up Niels, trying not to sound panicked and betrayed.

“Filling a bucket with water,” called down Matthias. “You might wanna get down. Don’t wanna hit you over the head with it.”

Niels gave him a blank look but dove down to the bottom of the well, his eyes peeled and watching Matthias with a hint of worry that he might be left behind after all. He was startled when the bucket hit the water and sank a little, filling with water and being pulled back up. Niels went up to investigate, but Matthias and his bucket were both gone again.

Distrust and anger flared in Niels. He would never forgive Matthias if he left him so suddenly, after promising time and again that he would help. The meal he prepared was starting to feel less like a gift and more like a final meal on the day of his execution.

But minutes later, Matthias returned again and Niels ducked down again as the bucket fell in to collect more water. It was occurring to him that Matthias was doing this for him and his heart hammered in his chest at the realization: he was going home tonight. 

“Niels,” called Matthias, his voice distorted by the water as it reached Niels. He swam up to the surface, the rope back in and tied into a new loop. “Come on. It’s time to go.”

Speechless with anticipation, Niels wove his body into through the loop and let Matthias pulled him up again. When he reached the top, instead of sitting him down on the edge, Matthias pulled Niels’ arms around his neck and picked him up under his back and under the curve of his tail before starting to walk away.

Niels blushed at this new proximity and just how much warmth Matthias was radiating into his body. How did he produce so much heat? His neck was warmest, his hand lightly resting where Matthias’ pulse beat strong and steady. Niels was mesmerized. More importantly, this was the farthest on land he had ever been. He should have been looking around, discovering this new wonder that was the outside world but he couldn’t take his eyes off Matthias, his beating heart, his warmth, the golden hue of his skin and hair, his piercing blue eyes that were deeper than any ocean Niels had ever seen.

“You okay?” asked Matthias, noticing the dazed looked Niels wore. 

Niels nodded. Speechless.

“Good,” he said, giving him that charming smile that Niels knew he could never forget no matter how hard he tried.

Before he knew what was happening, Matthias was climbing into the back of his truck and gently lowered Niels into the storage container that was a third filled with water. It only came up to half with Niels coiled in it. He felt empty when Matthias’ warmth was taken away from him again.

“Why are you pouting?” chuckled Matthias.

Niels blushed at being caught. “Because you’re very warm and I’m very cold,” he answered honestly.

“I won’t be gone long,” he assured him. “I’m just gonna add a few more bucketfuls of water in here before we go, okay?”

Niels nodded, still speechless as he continued to gaze at Matthias with curiosity and wonder.

Matthias smiled at him and gave his forehead a peck—an impulsive action—and picked up the bucket again. As promised, he did two more trips to the well, filling the container. “I know it’s uncomfortable,” he said, frowning. “But it won’t be long.”

“I don’t mind it,” promised Niels.

Matthias grinned. “Just make sure to keep your head down, okay? I don’t want anybody else seeing you. It would interrupt our little trip.”

Niels nodded again, saddened as Matthias closed the back of his truck and disappeared from his sight. Now that he was gone, it was occurring to Niels just how small this space was and his heart began to race with a claustrophobic panic.

He knew he was being ridiculous. He swam through tunnels tighter than this, but knowing this was taking him to his goal, that it was being achieved for him, made his heart hammer loudly in his aching chest. He took deep breaths, letting the wind course through his damp hair and chill his fingers and shoulders while his tail lay snugly in the container, the glimmer of his scales dulled in the plastic. 

Finally, the old truck stopped and the smell of gas went away. He heard a few gravelly steps before the back of the truck was opened again and Matthias appeared in his line of sight.

“Now this is the hard part,” he frowned, climbing onto the truck’s bed.

“What’s going on?” asked Niels, lifting himself up before Matthias pushed him back down.

“You need to stay down,” he warned, grabbing the container’s lid. “I’m gonna put this on. It won’t be for long, I promise,” he said. “I just need to be able to carry you to the boat and I’ll take it off again once we’re at sea.”

“How long will that be?” asked Niels, feeling a strange sense of abandonment.

“As brief as I can manage,” said Matthias, holding the lid and waiting for Niels’ consent before closing him in. 

Niels slowly nodded. He didn’t like it in the least, but now was not the time to start giving up and protesting.

Matthias let out a relieved sigh, lifting the lid up, but before he could close it, Niels surprised him by grabbing his collar and pulling him down for a kiss, this one rougher and more desperate than the other. When Niels pulled away again, Matthias leaned in farther to do it all over again, tenderly prolonging it. Pulling away, their gazes locked, a connection built between them, and Matthias finally felt ready to close the container. With Niels enclosed, he dragged the heavy container to the edge of the truck bed and pulled it out. 

Now the small space was even smaller. Niels sank his head down below water, trying not to cry with the emotions roiling inside him. He felt like he was foolishly trusting Matthias, having barely known him. Now he was enclosed in a tight space at a human’s mercy. Maybe the last few days were just a ploy to gain his trust, only to sell him to some museum as an oddity. He heard of these things from sailors in the past, circuses built on the backbones of exotic animals to be treated worst than slaves. He couldn’t imagine Matthias being so cruel, but the thought still crossed his mind and as he was moved around, completely powerless, and he was terrified.

Neither Niels nor the container were heavy on their own, but both combined with the water was just about too much for Matthias. He had to take a few breaks between the truck parked at the marina and to the boat he rented on the dock. In the dead of night, there was no one around to offer any help, but Matthias preferred it that way. The last thing he needed was to try to explain what was sloshing inside and why he was doing this at three o’clock in the morning. 

Finally, he managed to get Niels onto the boat. He was panting from the exertion, but he couldn’t take the cover off just yet. He ran back to close up and lock up his truck before running to the fishing boat and starting its engine, slowly navigating his way out of the dock and out at sea. Only then did he uncover Niels, letting him breathe in the sea air. They were so close…

“Let me sail out farther,” said Matthias, going back to the wheel to do so. Niels let him, too enraptured with gazing over the waters. He wasn’t taking him to any museum or circus after all.

When they could no longer see land, Matthias stopped his engines. The tides rocked the small boat to and fro, but Matthias walked the deck like a master sailor, noticed Niels. 

“You ready?” Matthias asked, rolling his sleeves up to pick Niels up from the container.

Niels nodded, his eyes locked on Matthias. Now that he was here, finally here, he wanted to preserve this last moment with the human that saved him.

Matthias seemed to think the same, walking slowly towards the edge of the deck with Niels’ body cradled in his arms. He leaned over the edge, with Niels hanging just above the water, but his hands continued to cling around Matthias’ neck. 

“I’ll never forget this,” Niels sand softly, his lips just barely parted and too close to Matthias’ to be coincidence.

Matthias’ lips quirked into a grin. “I couldn’t forget you even if I tried,” he said, leaning in just enough to kiss him again, slowly lowering Niels into the icy waters. But even once Niels was in, he still didn’t let Matthias go, his hands still wrapped around the back of his neck as he pushed himself under and dragged Matthias overboard.

Matthias barely had time to take in a deep breath before he was dragged under. All too vividly, he felt Niels’ arms wrapped around him, cradling him to his chest as Matthias’ chest burned for air. If this was Niels being a weak swimmer, he was afraid to know how powerful he was at full strength. 

Briefly, he remembered his dream. The burning in his chest then was temporary. Niels would never drown him, he thought. He would never hurt him like this. He _kissed_ him, he knew they had a connection. The blond with the turquoise scales trusted him blindly, so Matthias decided to let go, blindly trusting him too. There was nothing waiting for him at the surface. He had already built himself a life in his head, a useless fantasy. What if it didn’t need to be a fantasy? What if Niels knew it could be real.

Matthias opened his eyes. The waters were murky and dark, but he could just make out the glow of Niels’ scales and the faint lines of his torso, glowing dimly. His eyes glowed the brightest, a dark turquoise that became everything. Niels’ tilted Matthias’ chin up for a final kiss, parting their lips and filling Matthias’ lungs with water. The burning in his chest eased. The coldness of Niels’ world enveloped him, never to feel warmth again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So on THAT note, don’t be afraid to let me know what you think ^-^” Kudos are fun too! You can always find me on Tumblr, too, @grimwoode!


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